What on earth were McLaren doing? The Safety Car was out, Lewis Hamilton was leading and the obvious thing to do was bring him in – along with 95 per cent of the field. But McLaren kept him out.
The theory being that, while everyone else would be full of fuel, particularly the pursuing Felipe Massa, Hamilton could speed into the distance, build up a cushion in ten laps or so, make his stop without losing the lead and then have less distance to run on the softer tyre, which was marginal in terms of performance, but obligatory.
That was the theory.
In practice, the Safety Car stayed out much longer than anticipated, such was the mess created by Timo Glock’s Toyota when the rear suspension appeared to fail as he swept onto the main straight and rammed the pit wall.
This ate into the time Hamilton needed to build up that cushion. Sure enough, when he did stop for fuel and those soft tyres, Hamilton rejoined fifth, with it all to do. McLaren had screwed up.
Well, they would have done but for two things: Hamilton and the MP4-23 were working in perfect harmony (as they had been all weekend) and this was Hockenheim, one of the few circuits where overtaking is possible thanks to the long, wide straight leading into the hairpin at the far end.
Hamilton made good use of it, Heikki Kovalainen helping by letting his team-mate through but Hamilton then dispatched Massa and the second place Renault of Nelson Piquet with a controlled aggression that brought no complaint from either of the Brazilians.
Second place may have fallen into Piquet’s lap when a one-stop strategy – a long shot when you’re 17th on the grid – played perfectly, Piquet making his stop a few seconds before Glock had his accident.
Finding yourself up front is one thing; making the most of it another. Piquet did not put a foot wrong and brought Renault their first podium of 2008. Who would have believed it would have been Piquet and not Fernando Alonso who brought such a desperately needed result for the former champions?
Funny old race, this one. Renault’s tactics worked perfectly. And so, in the end, did McLaren’s. But you did wonder.
I wouldn’t say McLaren’s tactics worked. If their tactics worked, LH would have rejoined in P1. Lewis’ driving worked.
Lewis did a great drive and deserved that win every second of the race. He clearly was much faster then the other when he really started to put the pedal to the metal by taking 2 whole seconds/lap…
However the man of the race is without any doubt Piquet Jr. Coming from 17th to finishing 2nd… simply amazing. A nice addition to this is that he now showed that what Alonso’s been complaining about all year is just a load of BS… the car and team do perform well enough for podium finishes.
I wonder if he’s having a deja vu feeling now :p
What were McLaren doing? Making an informed decision based on the data available to them is my guess. When the pits opened there was still a long way to go and Hamilton hadn’t yet used the soft tyre. Had he pitted for tyres and fuel I doubt very much he would have had the same performance and would have struggled badly towards the end. McLaren and Hamilton are notoriously hard on tyres and fuelled up he could have ruined them within a few laps trying to keep lighter Heidfeld and Piquet behind.
Let’s not forget he was consistently 1 to 1.5 seconds faster than his rivals. Surely McLaren with all their experience made this decision believing Hamilton would still win? The result proves it was the right decision
Not for the first time McLaren showed tactical weakness yesterday. If their track record was bullet proof I would believe they had orchestrated the win, however it is not. Indeed Ron Dennis admitted as much at the end of the race over the team radio. When he congratulated Hamilton he apologised for making it harder for him.
The good thing is, non of this matters. Hamilton once again proved he was a cut above producing a truly biblical drive dispatching his rivals comprehensively. What a fantastic time to be a British F1 fan. We are witnessing a legend in the making.
I reckon Ron & the team thought that they would spice things up a bit. For a change the F1 race was almost as exciting to watch as the Moto GP. Let’s hope they keep this up & maybe get rid of that d**k James Allen.
Truly one of Hamiltons best performances ! Nuf said.
It certainly was yet another cracking race. Lewis has shut the press right up yet again, but needs to keep this new momentum he has going if he wants them to paint a 1 on his car next year.
And well done to Nelson Piquet Jr. I reckon the car is holding him back if he can finish in a place like that with things in his favour, and he was pretty dominating in the first season of A1 GP. Has anyone else noticed that since the crappy paintjob, Renault have been somewhat less successful? It must be that, now they have two smashing drivers there’s no real excuse for their modest finishes.
Mclaren took a risk that Massa would not change tyres. If Hamilton went in during the safety car session he would have risked coming out behind Massa and both would have the same tyre situation.
If he changed tyres also, he could have come out too to close Räikkönen. and he was much faster during that stint.
But entering late, he had much better tyres and low fuel load, and he did what he did. It was ideal for the way Hamilton drives (remember the Spanish GP when he stoped three times?)he consumes tyres more than the rest
Also, if TopGear has any say in the BBC coverage of F1 next year, for the love of all things good, can you please replace James Allen, who’s only ever been right once (about Massa needing replacing), and has no enthusiasm when announcing the start of the race.
Oh, and Mark Blundell must die. All he ever does is un-gramatically turn Steve Rider’s question into a paragraph, most often with lenience towards either Ferrari or Lewis Hamilton. Mark, if, by some amazing misinterpretation on my part, you actually do know what on Earth you’re talking about, then prove it by replacing James Allen. Please.
I don’t like hamilton he is silly and please can Mark Blundell and James Allen talk about something else than ferrari and mclaren.
Hamilton’s an astonishingly brilliant race driver amongst a crop of almost equally brilliant race drivers. This is the best F1 season I’ve watched for years and years; sure, the cars are plug-ugly but there’s now overtaking for a change!
The new crop of F1 pilots make me hopeful for next year, when overtaking should be even more possible due to the downforce changes. Kimi will, this year, come back at Lewis, but Lewis’ll hold on and be champion. And quite right too.
Felipe Massa? Great driver, but Ferrari don’t sem to be supporting him.
BTW, when the BBC gets F1 back next year, hang on to the sublime Martin Brundle (ace bloke,); reinstate Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ as the F1 theme and, however much it costs, get the Godlike Murray Walker to commentate on – at the very least – Silverstone’s ‘last’ GP.
Actually, commentary-wise you’re always in a cleft stick. On ITV you’ve got Brilliant Brundle and the di*khead. On 5 Live you’ve got Marvellous Maurice and the other di*khead. Doesn’t take a genius to work out what the best team would be …
Jerry W – you’re being unfair on David Croft, the Radio Five motor racing commentator – he’s a million times better than James Allen (not difficult, I agree), but Maurice Hamilton is only great as a sidekick. He did do the main commentary a couple of years ago and while it was workman like, it wasn’t outstanding in the way Murray Walker used to be. Walker stood in for Croft last year and it was embarrassing – slow, gappy and, at one point, he had to be reminded which car Anthony Davidson was driving.
I wonder if one would like James Allen more if he commentated on what’s going on in front of us rather than what happened 20 laps ago. It could be the fault of his producer, but does he really believe that thousands of folks are switching on for the first time immediately after every commercial break?
Heikki schouldn’t have let Lewis pass…
Oh wait a minute, someone is telling me that in fact Heikki missed the breaking point and that’s why the door was open for Lewis to go…
It’s not like the Barichello/Schumacher scandal, my bad…
Well done Piquet ! If he had a better car, Lewis would never have won the race.
Mikeado, grow up. Making comments that Mark Blundell “must die” are totally irrelevant to this blog and the product of a juvenile mind.
I think Pierre-Yves is wrong. Massa was in a better car than Piquet and couldn’t manage to go faster. No one was particularly faster than anyone else. The only driver really on it was Hamilton. He would have caught Piquet regardless and passed him. Piquet didn’t make it difficult for Hamilton- he made space.
If one driver is faster than the other then it’s common sense to let the fast one through.
It really helped Hamilton if you think about it. Lots of people – both media and ignorant public alike – badmouth Hamilton saying he’s a cocky little bugger and that he’s nowhere near as skilled as he thinks he is. How can they say that now after being handicapped by a stupid mistake by the team, rejoining in FOURTH with 15 laps to go, with a divine deity that is a Ferrari in second, and STILL winning? Those that badmouth Hamilton are usually the cocks that hero-worship Massa, and yet whilst Massa couldn’t keep up with Piquet in the end, Hamilton swiftly overtook Massa and quickly caught Piquet, passing him effortlessly.
Anyone who still thinks Hamilton is a crap driver unworthy of his McLaren position is an ignorant ‘armchair expert’. The fact of the matter is, Hamilton’s driving trounced everyone in that race, end of.
I THINK FIA HAVE BEEN SO HARD ON LEWIS LAST TWO YEARS, ITS ALLMOST AS IF THEY HAVE SOMETHING AGAINST HIM. THEY SEEM TO PENALISE HIM AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY AND WITH HIM NOW AHEAD ON POINTS I EXPECT THEY WILL BE WATCHING HIM EVEN CLOSER TOO SEE HOW THEY CAN CLIP HIS WINGS A LITTLE MORE THAN THEY HAVE ALLREADY THIS YEAR. DID YOU NOTICE IN SUNDAYS GP THAT OTHER DRIVERS GOT CAUGHT UP IN SMALL DISPUTES WITH EACH OTHER (VETTEL/ALONSO?) HAD THIS BEEN LEWIS, I’M SURE HE WOULD BE STARTING NEXT GP WITH SOME KIND OF PENALTY. THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES THOUGH AND NO MATTER WHAT THEY PRINT ABOUT HIM IN THE PRESS OR WHAT THE FIA DO, I AM SURE HE WILL BE THE TOP DOG IN F1 WELL INTO THE NEXT DECADE. HE HAS MADE F1 EXCITING AGAIN AND I WILL BE SUPPORTING HIM LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHER F1 FANS WORLDWIDE. HIS DAD SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF HIS BOY.
I think the tactic kind of worked, knowing how hard Lewis is on his tyres and how long a stint it would be on the softs if he pitted during the safety car, it might turn out that Piquet would have his first win~! might….
well it’s all done and dusted and at least Lewis still won it so all is well…
So ‘BMW benefited from their decision not to pit Heidfeld under the safety as the German took fourth place ahead of Kovalainen.’ & Hamilton’s ‘win was put in doubt by his team’s decision not to pit him during a safety car period.’
Dammed if you do & dammed if you don’t!
it was a shocker to see ferrari fumble even after the dreadful screwup by Mclaren on the pit stop strategy!…lewis did good and desrves the win no doubt…. but with a pussy like massa at the wheel even my grandmother could have taken him out at the hairpin…..
With the confusion during safety car periods, at least in my mind (and im definitely no professional), its all pretty confusing and seems like a crap shoot when lining up behind the safety car after cars have gone in to pit. so i guess its really easy to say mclaren should have pitted hamilton, but who knows where he wouldve ended up if he did pit. its a lesson learned under a very confusing situation, but in the end, the mclaren car plus hamiltons skills saved the day!
Comment number 2 from Barracuda is the craziest and stupidest thing i have ever heard in my life. Anyone who likes F1 knows for a fact that, 1- Piquet is a less than avarage pilot and 2- He and Renault were very lucky with a number of factors towards the podium finish. Even Flabio has agreed a to their luck!! If you have no clue, why say anything at all??
Why are people saying “what on earth were McLaren doing?” – it was too early to put him on softs for the rest of the race, simple, isn’t it?
mclaren might be goin coo coo but credit 2 dem and hamilton dey won
All i can say was that i was at Hockenheim last year, and this made a boring race ( even if it was going to yield the result i wanted, ) into an exciting contest. Yes at one point i thought Lewis had lost it, but he soon proved my doubts wrong, and made watching his victory far more enjoyable; than if he’d just cleared off, which is what would have happened without Timos misfortune.